I remember the first time I encountered David Bowie. It was 1981 and I was 12; my brother and I were watching MTV at my disapproving Grandma Bea's house in Yakima when Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" video came on. I'd never seen anything like it before. It was bizarre, beautiful and thrilling and it really made an impression. There's oodles that could be said about the effect Bowie has had on planet Earth, but everyone else is probably already saying it now way better than I. So much amazing stuff would simply never have happened in the history music and cinema if there hadn't been such a thing as David Bowie. So I thank God almighty there was. You can read all about Bowie on Wikipedia here. Go here to find his obituary in the New York Times and here for the one at the BBC.